MIT COP SHOT DEAD ON CAMPUS

A campus police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was shot and killed Thursday night on the campus outside Boston, authorities said.

Shortly after the shooting, television news reporters said police began chasing a suspect through a residential area in Watertown, just east of Boston, and that there were explosions and gunfire reported. Television station WHDH-7 reported a police officer was shot during the chase and a suspect was wounded and taken to a Boston hospital. Neighbors told reorters of hearing several large explosions. Grenades were mentioned on police radios.

The news station reported heavily armed police in armored vehciles were moving through the streets of Watertown. Residents were asked to lock themselves in their homes.

The MIT campus officer was responding to a report of a disturbance when he was shot multiple times. He later died at a hospital, Cambridge police and the Middlesex District Attorney’s office said.

His name wasn’t immediately released.

Authorities said the shooting took place about 10:30 p.m. outside the Ray and Maria Stata Center, an academic complex.

In an emergency report to students on the MIT website, students were warned to “stay indoors and away from the area.”

“Responding agencies continue to investigate the situation,” MIT said on its website. “Police are sweeping the campus at this time, please continue to stay indoors and remain inside until further notice.”

The shooting came little more than three days after the twin bombings at the Boston Marathon.